Withnell is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Borough of Chorley The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after the town of Chorley, which is an unparished area. The borough extends to several villages and hamlets including Adlington, B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. According to the census of 2001, it had a population of 3,631, reducing to 3,498 at the census of 2011. Withnell is about north-east of

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

itself and about from

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

. It borders the villages of Brinscall and

Abbey Village Abbey Village is a village in the English county of Lancashire and the constituency of Chorley. It is located on the A675 road, from Blackburn, from Chorley, from Preston and ten miles from Bolton. Etymology The name is believed to have ar ...

, which are part of the parish. It constituted an urban district from 1894 to 1974.

Etymology

The name ''Withnell'' is first recorded as ''Withinhull'' around 1160, and appears as ''Withinhulle'' in the 1332

Subsidy Roll Subsidy rolls are records of taxation in England made between the 12th and 17th centuries. They are often valuable sources of historical information. The lists are arranged by county, and the description of each document indicates the area covere ...

s of Lancashire. It means 'hill where willow trees grow'.

Amenities

St. Joseph's

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in Withnell has a primary school. St Paul's

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church was built in 1841. It has a 1917 war memorial cross commemorating First World War Pte James Miller, who was posthumously awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

after delivering a message and returning with the reply despite being shot in the back. The memorial was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 2024. There was formerly a post office, closed on 8 May 2008 as part of the Post Office Network Change Program. A newsagent continued to operate from the old post office premises, but closed a couple of years later and the building became a private house. Withnell Health Centre is a GP surgery serving Withnell and surrounding villages. There is also a pharmacy, a beauty parlour and a car sales garage.

Withnell railway station Withnell railway station was a railway station that served Abbey Village and Withnell, in Lancashire, England. History The station was opened by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a majo ...

served the village, but it closed in 1960.

Environs

Withnell Local Nature Reserve, designated by Chorley Borough Council, roughly traces the path of a now disused railway cutting for around . Since 1966, a large number of wildflowers, native trees and heathers have been planted in the site. The public are free to walk through the reserve. In 2018, the type of stone needed for the completion of the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona was discovered in Brinscall Quarry near Withnell.

References

External links

Withnell
Chorley Borough Council.
History of Withnell Township
British History Online.
History of Withnell Mill
Withnell history website {{authority control Geography of Chorley Villages in Lancashire Civil parishes in Lancashire West Pennine Moors Local Nature Reserves in Lancashire

Etymology

Amenities

Environs

See also

References

External links